Mid-term assessment of the forest resources management activity: The Philippines

This report derives from an assessment of USAID's Natural Resource Management Program (NRMP) in the Philippines, which has supported CBNFM efforts since 1990. NRMP supports the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (DENR) policy efforts to design and implement tenure instruments for upland communities living in or around forestlands. NRMP's current efforts are directed towards helping revise internal policies, guidelines and procedures to institutionalize community forestry within DENR, and to create a partnership between DENR, local governments and forest communities. The assessment team identified three challenges facing NRMP. First is the need for continued community assistance in order for these communities to meet their high level of expectations, including the belief that newly organized forest communities can rapidly establish and operate successful forest enterprises. Secondly, the team observed a disparity between the growing demands for community support services from DENR and the agency's ability to provide those services. The third issue involves selecting appropriate indicators for monitoring performance. The following are recommendations listed for improving NRMP's effectiveness: Continue support to develop community capabilities, provide incentives for forest protection, and enable community organizations to determine appropriate enterprises/markets for forest products;Act as an information broker between the grassroots and policy makers to identify options for improving policies;Strengthen institutional support systems for enterprise development in forest communities, such as access to markets, market information, credit, relationships with private sector, and development of business management skills;Strengthen the abilities of implementing institutions and local government units to implement community forestry on a national scale.

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